This is an elimination bout between the IBF’s two top-ranked super middleweights; Osleys Iglesias is rated third while Vladimir Shishkin is in the second spot.
The winner will move into the vacant No. 1 position and will await either a shot at the winner of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford or for the winner of that super-fight to be stripped, as the IBF did when Canelo declined to face William Scull last year.
But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Instead, let’s look at what you need to know about this match.
When is Osleys Iglesias vs. Vladimir Shishkin?
Osleys Iglesias vs. Vladimir Shishkin is on Thursday, September 4. The broadcast will begin at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time (11:30 p.m. BST).
What channel is Osleys Iglesias vs. Vladimir Shishkin on?
Osleys Iglesias vs. Vladimir Shishkin will stream on PunchingGrace.com.
Where is Osleys Iglesias vs. Vladimir Shishkin?
The fight is taking place at the Casino de Montreal in Canada.
Who is Osleys Iglesias?
Iglesias, 13-0 (12 KOs), is a 27-year-old originally from Cuba who lives in Berlin, Germany, and has made a recent habit of blasting out his opponents on shows in the Canadian province of Quebec.
This will be Iglesias’ fifth straight outing in either Montreal or Quebec City. He put away the 32-6-1 Marcelo Coceres and the 16-1-1 Evgeny Shvedenko before the first round was over – Shvedenko’s KO was particularly frightening. The 28-3 Sena Agbeko couldn’t make it beyond the second round and, most recently, the 18-0-2 Petro Ivanov lasted into the fifth. Iglesias-Ivanov took place in November, which means Iglesias is coming off a 10-month layoff.
It will be interesting to see how Iglesias fares against Shishkin. Another knockout would be impressive, but so would showing additional facets of his game against a fellow contender at 168lbs.
Who is Vladimir Shishkin?
Shishkin, 16-1 (10 KOs), fought for the vacant IBF title last year, losing a debated decision to William Scull in October. Scull, of course, went on to drop that belt back to its previous owner, Canelo, this past May.
As for Shishkin, his team appealed the Scull result, and while the defeat remains on his record, the IBF kept the 34-year-old Russian high up in its rankings, which allowed for this second chance.
Shishkin turned pro in 2016, shortly after his 25th birthday. He topped Nadjib Mohammedi (a former light heavyweight title challenger, though that’s giving Mohammedi more credit than he deserves) via 10th-round TKO in 2018. There were also wins over the 13-1-2 DeAndre Ware via TKO8 in 2019, the 15-0-2 Ulises Solis via unanimous decision in 2020, the aforementioned 23-1 Sena Agbeko via unanimous decision in 2021 (three years before Iglesias faced him), and former super middleweight titleholder Jose Uzcategui via unanimous decision in 2022.
The Scull fight represented a significant step up in Shishkin’s level of opposition. This fight with Iglesias is another bout against a skilled contender, and one who presents a completely different set of challenges than Scull did.
What other fights are on the undercard of Osleys Iglesias vs. Vladimir Shishkin?
The undercard includes a bout between unbeaten lightweight prospects Dzmitry Asanau and Laid Douadi.
Asanau, 10-0 (4 KOs), represented Belarus in the Olympics in 2016 as a bantamweight and 2021 as a lightweight, each time getting dispatched in his second bout of the tournament. The 29-year-old is coming off a pair of victories against measuring stick foes, winning a TKO5 in November over the 38-2 Matias Rueda (whose other losses came to Oscar Valdez and Liam Wilson) and sending Francesco Patera off into retirement following their April bout.
Douadi is 27-0-1 with just 3 KOs. He’s been a pro for nearly 11 years but has still been facing lower-tier fighters with records of 13-6-3, 17-15-2 and 23-14, though that last bout at least saw Douadi score a rare victory within the distance.
Also on this show are several other prospects early in their development, including junior welterweight Jhon Orobio, 14-0 (12 KOs), and middleweight Alexandre Gaumont, 13-0 (9 KOs).
The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
